Foldable building structure



June 22, 1965 c. H. HURKAMP 3,189,949

FOLDABLE BUILDING STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 14, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June22, 1965 c. H. HURKAMP FOLDABLE BUILDING STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Sept. 14, 1962 INVENTOR CHARLES H-HURKAHP, BVW J W,W1 W

q-r-roRNfis s United States Patent 3,189,949 IFGLDABLE BUILDINGSTRUCTURE harles H. Hurkarnp, 3921 Lake Forest Drive NE, Atlanta, Ga.Filed Sept. 14, 1962, Ser. No. 223,639 7 Claims. (Cl. 20-2) Thisinvention relates to a structure and method for erecting a building froma preassembled fiat compact condition to a fully erected condition witha minimum requirement of tools and personnel. In general, the inventioncomprises preassembled floor, wall and roof structures with hingesconnecting the walls to the floor and roof and allowing the walls to befolded horizontally until the floor and roof lie adjacent one another.There are one or more pneumatic tubes associated with these hinges. Theconstruction of the hinges and their relationship to the pneumatic tubeor tubes is such that upon expansion of the tube or tubes, the wallsautomatically straighten and push the roof upwardly from the floor. Whenthe walls are completely straight, they are nailed or locked in placeand the building is erected.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a buildingstructure that is preassembled in a folding condition and that hasbuilt-in pneumatic means for automatically and completely erecting thebuilding on any desired location.

Another object of the invention is to provide a folding buildingstructure that is erected solely by the application of high pressurefluid.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a building structurethat can be folded for compact shipping and storage in a preassembledcondition and thereafter transported to a building site for quick anduncomplicated erection.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a method forerecting a building that involves the application of high pressure fluidto certain pressure sensitive areas of the building.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple andeasy-to-operate building erect-ion means that is readily adaptable toany size structure ranging from full size building structures down todol-l houses and the like.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in theart.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of the building in its folded condition;

FIGURE 2 is an isometric view of the building in its erected condition;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section taken along the line3-3 of FIGURE 1, but with the hinges shown in section;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section taken along the line44- of FIGURE 1, out with the hinges shown in section;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary View in section taken along the line5 5 of FIGURE 2, but with the hinges shown in section;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section on an enlarged scaletaken along the line 66 of FIG- URE 2, and with the hinges shown insection;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary plan View of the floor of the building withother parts of the building removed; and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary plan view of the floor of a modification ofthe invention. i

The building illustrated has a floor structure it), a roof and ceilingstructure 11, a front wall 12, a rear wall (not shown), and side Walls13 and 14. These basic parts of the building may be made of anystructural material con- Ventionally used in the construction industry,and partic- Klbdfltd Patented June 22, 1965 ularly those materials thatare best suited for prefabricated or preassembled buildings.

In the drawings the ceiling and roof structure 11 are shown as a rigidunit, but there may be spaced between the roof and ceiling to provideroom for an attic perhaps containing a refrigeration system, electricalwiring, or other building accessory. The other principal parts of thebuilding, including the fioor structure and the wall structure are alsorigid except for certain hinged connections as will be described. Thefront wall 12 may have a door 15 and windows 16. Other doors and Windowsmay be formed in the other walls of the building.

The front wall 12 comprises an upper panel 19 and a lower panel 20. Theupper edge of the upper panel I? is fastened to the roof and ceilingstructure 1-1 by hinges 21, the pivot axes 22 of which are on the,inside of the front wall. The upper and lower panels 19 and areconnected together by hinges 23 having their pivot axes 24 adjacent thefront side of the front wall. The lower edge of the lower panel 20 has aplate 25 fastened to it and hinges 26 are connected to the plate 25 andto the floor structure 10. The pivot axes 27 of the hinges 26 areadjacent the inside of the front wall. The panels 19 and 20 are of equallength, and the pivot axes 22 and 2'7 of the hinges 2d and 26 arevertically aligned.

The floor structure 10 has a recess 3% in it, as illustrated in FIGURES4 and 6. The recess 34} is defined by a horizontal wall 31, two verticalwalls 32 and 33 and a pair of oppositely inclined walls 34 and 35. Theplate 25 fastened to the lower edge of the front Wall panel 2b is bentto provide an inclined flange 36 that extends downwardly into the recess30. i

The front Wall 12 is pivotal about its hinges between the positionsillustrated in FIGURES 4 and 6. As the panels 19 and 2t) swing inwardlyto the position illustrated in FIGURE 4, the roof structure 11 movestoward and away from the floor structure It).

Although not illustrated, the rear wall comprises two panels like thepanels 19 and 20 and has the various hinge connections that have beendescribed for the front wall 12.

The side walls 13 and 14 are also identical in construction. Each sidewall comprises an upper panel 39 and a lower panel 40. The upper panel39 is fastened to the roof and ceiling structure 11 by hinges 41 havingtheir pivot axes 42 positioned adjacent the outer side of the panel 39.The upper panel 39 is joined to the lower panel 4t by hinges 43 thepivot axes 44 of which are adjacent the inner side of the wall .13. Thelower edge of the lower panel is joined to the floor structure it? byhinges 45 having their pivot axes 46 positioned adjacent the inner sideof the panel 40.

The floor structure It) has a square walled recess 47 out in it asillustrated in FIGURES 3 and 5. A plate is fastened to the lower edge ofthe panel 40 and extends somewhat beyond the panel. When the panels '39and 46 are pivoted about their hinge-s between the positions illustratedin FIGURES 3 and 5, the plate 4i pivots downwardly into the recess 47.

The building is erected by pneumatic tube means, two embodiments ofwhich are illustrated in FIGURES 7 and 8. In FIGURE 7, a singlecontinuous thin wall tube 50 is fitted within the recesses 3i and 47.Sections of the tube 50 are shown in the collapsed condition in FIG-URES 3 and 4 and in the expanded condition in FIG- URES 5 and 6. Thetube 50 has a circular cross section as illustrated. A conventionalcheck valve fitting 51 is connected to the tube 5t! and extends througha side of the floor structure 16.

Using this pneumatic tube 50, the erection of the building is a verysimple matter. It is shown in its collapsed condition in FIGURE 1. Thisis the condition in which 3 the building would be shipped and stored,and it is obvious that, when collapsed, the building is quite compactand fiat. The front and rear walls are collapsed inwardly and the endwalls 13 and 14 are collapsed outwardly. If the hinge connections onthese walls were reversed, the front and rear walls could be made tocollapse outwardly and the side walls inwardly. As shown in FIGURES 3and 4, when the building is collapsed, the tube is compressed betweenthe walls of the recesses 38 and 47 and the plates 36 and 43. When asource of high pressure gas or air is connected to the valve 51, thetube 5% begins to expand, applying upward pivotal pressures to theplates 36 and 48. This pressure of the tube 56 causes the lower frontand rear panels to pivot about their hinges 26 and the lower side wallpanels to pivot about their hinges 45. As these lower panels swingupwardly, all of the upper panels 19 and 39 pivot between their upperand lower hinges until finally, when the tube is completely inflated,the walls are in straight vertical positions as illustrated in FIGURES 5and 6. Once these walls are completely straightened, the building willremain erect because the moments about the hinges 23 and 43 tend to keepthe walls straight. Therefore, even if the air or gas is exhausted fromthe tube 50, an external inward force on the front and rear walls and anoutward force on the side walls is necessary to collapse the building.vHowever, after the building is erected, the side walls may be nailed orotherwise locked to the front and rear walls to prevent collapsing ofthe building.

In the modification of FIGURE 8, the pneumatic tube means, instead ofbeing a single tube as illustrated in FIGURE 7, comprises four separatetubes. One of these tubes 54 is positioned within the recess 30 adjacentthe front side of the floor structure and a similar tube 55 ispositioned within the recess 30 adjacent the rear side of the floorstructure. Shorter tubes 56 and 57 are positioned within the recesses 47adjacent the sides of the floor structure. In the arrangement of FIGURE8, the valve 51 is connected to a manifold 58. An air line 59 leads fromthe manifold 58 to the tube 54, another air line 60' leads from themanifold to the tube 55, and an air line 61 leads from the manifold tothe tube 57. When a source of compressed air or gas is connected to thevalve 51, the tubes 54, 55, 56 and 57 are simultaneously inflatedbecause of this manifold connection. Otherwise, the embodiment of FIGURE8 causes the building to be erected in the same way as was described forthe single tube 59.

Various changes and modifications may be made within the purview of thisinvention as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Suchchanges and modifications are within the scope and teaching of thisinvention as defined by the claims appended thereto.

What is claimed is:

1. An automatically erectable building comprising a rigid floorstructure and a rigid roof structure interconnected by at least twoopposing walls, each wall comprising an upper panel and a lower panelhinged together, the upper panels being hinged to the roof structure andthe lower panels being hinged to the floor structure, recess meansbetween the floor structure and the lower panels, the lower panels andthe floor structure having adjacent faces relatively pivotal in avariable are when the lower panels are pivoted relative to the floorstructure, and pneumatic tube means in the recess means and bearingagainst the said adjacent faces for pivoting the lower panels fromgenerally horizontal positions to vertical positions when the tube meansare inflated.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the positions of d the hinges aresuch that when the building is erected, the wall panels apply momentsabout the pivot axes of the hinges in directions tending to maintain theerect condition of the building.

3. An automatically erectable building comprising a fioor structure anda roof structure, the floor and roof structures having front edges, rearedges and left and right side edges, front, rear and side wallsconnected between the floor and roof structures, each of the wallscomprising upper and lower panels, hinge means connecting each upperpanel to the roof structure, hinge means connecting each lower panel tothe floor structure, recess means between the lower panel and the floorstructure, hinge means connecting each upper panel to the adjacent lowerpanel, the hinge means permitting collapsing of the building with theupper and lower wall panels occupying substantially horizontalpositions, and pneumatic tube means positioned in the recess means, oneof the structures having face means and the panels adjacent the lastnamed structure having face means, the structure and panel face meansbeing positioned on opposite sides of the tube means and beingrelatively pivotal about the hinge means connecting such structure andpanels, the tube means being inflatable to force the panels towardvertical positions.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein the tube means comprises a singlecontinuous tube.

5. The combination of claim 3 wherein the tube means comprises aplurality of individual tubes interconnected by gas conductors.

6. An automatically erectable preassembled building comprising a rigidfloor structure, a rigid roof structure, front, rear, and side wallsconnected between the floor and roof structures, each wall comprising anupper panel and a lower panel hingedly connected together, each upperpanel being hingedly connected to the roof structure and each lowerpanel being hingedly connected to the floor structure, the floorstructure having recess means adjacent to its periphery, the lower edgeof each lower panel having a plate fastened to it, the positions of theplates and the hinges being such that when the panels are pivoted tosubstantially horizontal positions, the plates pivot downwardly into therecess means, and pneumatic tube means positioned within the recessmeans, the pneumatic tube means having portions positioned between theplates and an opposing wall of the recess means so that inflation of thepneumatic tube means applies pressure against the plates causing thewall panel-s to pivot to vertical positions.

7. An alternately collapsible and erectable building comprising a roofstructure, a floor structure, upper and lower side panels, hinge meansconnecting the upper edge of the upper side panels to the roofstructure, hinge means connecting the lower edge of the lower sidepanels to the floor structure, hinge means connecting the lower edges ofthe upper side panels to the upper edges of the lower side panels,recess means between the lower side panels and the floor structure,expandable tube means positioned within the recess means adjacent atleast one of the said hinge means between relatively swingable faces onthe parts connected by the said one hinge means, the tube means whenexpanded causing erection of the building.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,917,824 7/33Burns. 2,757,225 7/56 Dunn.

JACOB L. NACKENOFF, Primary Examiner.

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1. AN AUTOMATICALLY ERECTABLE BUILDING COMPRISING A RIGID FLOORSTRUCTURE AND A RIGID ROOF STRUCTURE INTERCONNECTED BY AT LEAST TWOOPPOSING WALLS, EACH WALL COMPRISING AN UPPER PANEL AND A LOWER PANELHINGED TOGETHER, THE UPPER PANELS BEING HINGED TO THE ROOF STRUCTURE ANDTHE LOWER PANELS BEING HINGED TO THE FLOOR STRUCTURE, RECESS MEANSBETWEEN THE FLOOR STRUCTURE AND THE LOWER PANELS, THE LOWER PANELS ANDTHE FLOOR STRUCTURE HAVING